Why doing nothing can feel surprisingly difficult
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For something that sounds so simple, leisure can be surprisingly difficult. Give people an hour with nothing scheduled, and many fill it with thoughts of to-dos: the unanswered email, the errand that’s been put off, the project due next week. Free time is sometimes less a chance to rest than an opportunity to take inventory of our obligations.
Maybe that’s because leisure feels worthwhile only when it accomplishes something—if a walk counts as exercise, a hobby builds a skill, or a vacation leaves us recharged enough to work harder when we return. But several recent Atlantic articles argue for a different approach: Time off does not need to earn its keep. Today’s newsletter explores what happens when people stop treating leisure as a means to an end, and allow it to be valuable on its own.
On Leisure
Why Your Leisure Time Is in Danger
By Krzysztof Pelc
Stop treating your time off as a productivity hack. (From 2021)
How to Embrace Doing Nothing
By Arthur C. Brooks
Absolute idleness is both harder and more rewarding than it seems. (From 2022)
The Logic of the ‘9 to 5’ Is Creeping Into the Rest of the Day
By Julie Beck
How free time gets conscripted into the service of work (From 2025)
Still Curious?
- Workism is making Americans miserable. For the college-educated elite, work has morphed into a religious identity—promising transcendence and community, but failing to deliver, Derek Thompson argued in 2019.
- How much leisure time do the happiest people have? Too little, and people tend to get stressed. Too much, and people tend to feel idle, Joe Pinsker explored in 2019.
Other Diversions